Ips Employment Specialist

Hillside Clubhouse is recruiting for a mental health Employment Specialist to join our dynamic Camden team supporting people with mental health conditions to gain and retain employment.  The role is working within the nationally recognised IPS (Individual Placement and Support) model within an NHS secondary care mental health team based in the heart of Camden.

Who we are: 

Hillside Clubhouse is a co-produced mental health employment support charity working across Camden and Islington. We support people with mental health conditions into training, volunteering, and employment opportunities. People can access our services via our Clubhouse, where they can share their skills and expertise with others and support the running of the charity.  Alternatively, they can receive support out in the community from one of our Employment Specialists based within primary and secondary care.

The Role: 

The role is within our IPS Service and will be based within an NHS secondary care team in Camden. As an IPS Employment Specialist, you’ll play an important role in supporting people with lived mental health experience on their recovery journey by supporting them back into paid employment. This is an opportunity to offer ongoing support, to motivate and provide people with hope, while developing the tools and skills required to recover, ultimately transforming their lives.  

A variety of skills are needed in this post including but not limited to -  a strong ability to develop empathy and rapport with clients; a determined approach to seeking out job opportunities; a person centric-approach to working with people; strong communications skills to motivate clients; strong administrative capabilities and an attention to detail engage with prospective employers via business development and face-to-face meetings, and to be able to challenge some perceptions around mental health. 

The postholder will be directly employed by Hillside Clubhouse but work under an Honorary Contract from Camden and Islington Foundation Trust.  They will be managed directly by the IPS Operations Manager but work as team member within the clinical team. The role is dynamic and involves being integrated in a clinical team, working within the community, and we operate a flexible working policy where working from home is also permitted up to two days per week.  

Overall aim: 

To enable people with mental health issues to gain and sustain competitive employment by working within the evidence based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model.

Primary Duties: 

• Manage a caseload of up to twenty clients and work within and apply the 8 principles of IPS in all aspects of role. 
• To work with and enable clients to find work using a mix of conventional approaches and employer engagement. 
• To generate ongoing referrals from the clinical team and to manage those effectively. 
• To engage directly and collaboratively with the clinical team while maintaining the existing multi-disciplinary approach to assisting clients seeking work. 
• To report and meet regularly with clinical team service managers and the IPS Operations manager, and to participate in both casework and clinical supervision from IPS Operations and clinical team services managers. 
• To be an active member of both the clinical and Hillside teams 
• To be responsible for own management of administrative duties tied to both Hillside Clubhouse and clinical team and adhering to existing Hillside and NHS protocols. 
• Source job opportunities specific to client needs from a range of sources including those advertised via current and conventional means, as well as through contact with local and Pan London employers. 
• To build up a network of employers to secure available and future vacancies. 
• To maintain existing and seek out new relationships with a range of external agencies of use to the post. 
• To provide ongoing support to both client and employers (where appropriate) when starting work and until such time as the client makes the decision to end the support provided. 
• To work with clients to collaboratively manage job searching activities and engagement with the service. 
• To manage and meet all KPIs, statistics and documentation as required, including but not limited to: referrals, first meetings, job outcomes, job sustainments of 6, 13 and 26 weeks, and work retention. 
• To provide guidance on the impact and/or the potential change to benefits when clients start work. 
• To work and manage time effectively in both community/external settings, and at clinical team. 
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• Secondary Duties: 
• To work out of hours as and when required, working in line with Hillside Clubhouse risk management procedures. 
• Undertake training when required and participate in ongoing learning and development. 
• To maintain professional boundaries with all internal and external stake holders including clients, and staff members of both Hillside and the clinical team. 
• To engage and participate in external IPS support services, training, and events. 
• To undertake additional tasks and duties as and when required, and to work outside of normal office hours when necessary.